Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, probably Ngbandi-style carver / late 1800s–early 1900s
Pair of Figures
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Pair of Figures as sculpture (Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, probably Ngbandi-style carver · late 1800s–early 1900s).
Few examples of Ngbandi sculpture exist, and even fewer retain their adornments.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as Wood, iron alloy, copper alloy, glass beads, plant fiber, and cloth.
The museum's collection notes: These paired wooden figures are adorned with metal, bead, and shell ornaments at the ears, waists, and ankles. An ornament on the male's upper arm may identify him as a warrior. Each figure has a series of vertically aligned bumps on the forehead. These represent highly raised keloid scars that were culturally meaningful forms of body modification. Carving of paired figures is quite well documented among the Ngbandi and their neighbors, the Ngbaka-Minagende, where such sculptures are said to represent the mythical ancestor Seto and his sister-wife, Nabo. Field-based research cannot confirm the existence of figurative couples among the Ngbandi
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtPair of FiguresOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.